The symptoms of aging affect the human body in both physical and mental ways. Aging of cells and tissues can affect a person's strength, stamina and agility. Aging of various cells and tissues can result in the diminished sensations of well-being, fatigue, delayed physical and mental recovery, diminished cognitive ability and insomnia. Further physical effects include skin aging, wrinkling, and discoloration, hair loss, decreased endurance and tolerance to physical and mental activities, and muscle fatigue. Neuro-endocrinological disorders, such as decreased sexual performance and maintenance of normal blood pressure and blood chemistry, are also closely associated with the aging of tissues. The physiological aging of the cellular and intracellular membranes of the human body is the cause of many of these age-related disorders.
The cellular and intracellular membranes of the human body are primarily comprised of lipids. More specifically, these membranes comprise phospholipids, phosphate-containing lipids comprising a hydrophobic end and a hydrophilic end that yield glycerol and fatty acids upon hydrolysis. More specifically, the most commonly occurring phospholipids in the human body are phosphoglycerides and sphingolipids. Phosphoglycerides, which are related to phosphatidic acid, comprise a phospholipid where one of the primary hydroxyl groups of glycerol is esterified to phosphoric acid that links to some base or polyol while the other hydroxyl groups are esterified to fatty acids. Sphingomyelin, the only sphingolipid that is a phospholipid, comprises three building-block components: one molecule of sphingosine or a related base as the backbone, one molecule of a fatty acid, and a polar head group.
The most abundant phospholipids are phosphatidylcholine (also known as lecithin), and phosphatidylethanolamine (also known as cephalin), phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylglycerol, and diphosphatidylglycerol are also found in human cells and tissues, but comprise a minority of the phosphoglycerides found. Phosphatidylcholine comprises more than about 75% of the phospholipids found in blood plasma and over about 20% of the phospholipids found in other tissues. Phosphatidylethanolamine, comprises more than 10% of phospholipids found in all tissues except blood plasma.
Plasmalogens, a subgroup of phospholipids, are basically phosphoglyceride analogs of the alkyl ether acylglycerols. They have a vinyl ether linkage to the fatty acid of the phospholipid, instead of to the normal ester. Plasmalogens are often found throughout the tissues of the human body, such as the brain, heart, lung, liver, kidney, testes, erythrocytes and blood plasma. The most abundant plasmalogen is ethanolamine plasmalogen (1-(1′-alkenyl)-2-acyl glycerophosphatidylethanolamine), which is found in all tissues of the human body except for the heart, liver and blood plasma. A substantial amount of choline plasmalogen is found only in heart cells.
Phospholipids aid in the strengthening of tissues and cellular structures. They also possess some anti-oxidant properties, preventing cells from oxidizing and thereby aging. The amount of both phospholipids and plasmalogens available in the human physiology decreases, leading to the increased severity of age-related conditions.
Treatments that reduce the symptoms of aging are desirable. In particular, the ingestion of additional phospholipids, derived from outside mammalian sources, has been found to supplement the human body's internal supply of phospholipids. In the physiology of the human, phospholipids and plasmalogens have been found to aid in the treatment of age-related symptoms. Extracted mammalian phospholipids have had only limited success in treating age-related conditions.